A Moment of Silence
by exiled mind
Summary: Sometimes you just need to get away from it all.


Although the moon was waning and half-gone, Remus' eyesight had always been better than most and he had no trouble distinguishing Tonks' angular form sitting a few feet away from the tower entrance.

He watched her for a moment as she sat there, legs crossed, leaning back on her arms, her face tilted up towards the night sky as if it were midday at the beach. Tonks' hair, tonight, was an incredibly light shade of pink; it looked nearly white in the dim shine of the moon. Her eyes were closed and there was a thin worry-line in the middle of her forehead that revealed the direction of her thoughts.

"Come up to enjoy the view?" she asked softly, her tone mild, and lacking its usual playfulness. "It's lovely. And a good place to think, as well."

Remus felt a brief surge of surprise that she'd heard his quiet approach and then shook his head self-deprecatingly. She was an Auror for a reason, after all.

"Is it, now?" he responded, moving to stand behind her and look up into the stars himself.

"I don't remember many of the summer constellations", Tonks commented. "I was always better with the winter ones. Still, comforting all the same."

She sighed, an indelicate, harsh sound, released into the night. "Tonight they're staying silent, though. Very few answers from the stars these days. I think that they, too, are waiting to find out the result of this war."

Remus couldn't resist smiling down at her candy-colored hair as he thought about what she had said.

"I don't think Sybil Trelawney would agree. You sound like a centaur, by the by."

This time, Tonks offered a quiet snort. "The only stars that speak to Trelawney are those that come from brandy and firewhiskey, and I can't say I trust _them _to decide the fate of us all. Look at the trouble they've caused already. As far as the centaurs go… They can keep their mysteries."

Remus remained silent for a moment, then sat down behind her on the cloak she's used as a blanket and scooted himself forward until he was pressed close to her and could pull her back to rest against his chest.

"You are thoughtful tonight." The short tufts of her hair tickled at his nose - a sensation that, before her, he never would have thought could be a comfort.

Though he couldn't see her face, he knew she was rolling her eyes. "I have my moments."

"Indeed you do."

They sat together in silence for a time, watching the stars and feeling the cool breeze - uncommon for this time of year - across their skin.

Finally, Tonks turned her head and looked directly at him for the first time since he joined her on the tower. "I know it's hard to get away. I know it's dangerous, and that I shouldn't be happy that you're taking risks, but I'm glad you're here. Glad we could have a little time, before…"

Remus didn't need her to finish the sentence to know her meaning. "I've learned in my many years," he began, and this time he didn't miss her eye-roll, "that it is important to take chances. Grasp happiness while I can, else I risk losing it without truly appreciating it."

As he spoke, Remus moved his arms down her body to rest at her hips.

Her low chuckle was answer enough.

He flipped open the snap on Tonks' trousers and pulled down the zip unhurriedly. Remus helped her wriggle them down her hips and arse - and she only smacked him in the nose once with her head, muttering a quick apology before beginning another dangerous wiggle - until they reached her knees.

Before Tonks could squirm completely out of them, however, he grabbed both her hands and brought them up near her head. She groaned softly in frustration, but didn't resist him. Remus slowly kissed the inside of her left wrist, moving his lips along the soft skin, up her forearm, and then back down again to press a kiss to her palm. He repeated the process with her right arm, and he could feel her relaxing against him once again.

Turning again to her left arm, Remus kissed up to her shoulder, and then her neck, before moving his hands to feather up and down her sides. Her hands still raised above her head, Tonks threaded her fingers through his hair.

Remus grasped the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing it to the side. Tonks' hands pressed against the back of his head, encouraging him to continue his attention to her neck, while his hands wandered across her torso. He briefly cupped her breasts in his palms before ghosting his fingertips across her stomach, causing her to suck in her breath at the sensation.

Remus slid the fingers of his right hand down between her legs and stroked once, twice, enjoying the gasping sounds that he was able to draw from her.

Tonks dropped her arms and tried to free herself from the trousers tangled around her knees, but he caught both her hands with his own free one, moving them back up to press against her breast.

"Remus," she gasped as he stroked up and down once more, "Let me – oh! – let me…"

Tonks seemed to lose her train of thought as he massaged and stroked, causing her hips to wriggle and her head to fall back onto his shoulder. With her trousers caught around her bent knees, she wasn't able to open her legs very far, though Remus could feel the muscles in her thighs straining.

Remus murmured in her ear and she turned her head so he could capture her lips in a kiss. Releasing his grip on her wrists, Remus moved one of Tonks' hands to her breast and rested his own hand over hers. Her other arm stretched up and returned to clutch at his hair once again, pressing to increase the pressure of their kiss as he increased the speed of his wickedly clever hand below.

He could feel her as she became more and more tense against him, straining and stretching towards release, her breathless cries and moans against his mouth escalating the closer she got to climax. He broke their kiss just in time to remind her, "Sound travels at night," before claiming her lips again in an attempt to help stifle her cries.

Tonks lay against him, limp and satisfied, for several minutes before finally kicking off her trousers and turning towards Remus with a sound that was a mix of purr and growl. The gentleness of her lips against his contrasted with the swiftness of her searching fingers at his zipper below, and then it was Remus' turn to groan.

* * *

Clothed once again, they sat together, her back to his chest, his chin resting on her head, a cloak wrapped around them against the rising breeze.

One of his arms wrapped comfortingly around her waist, the other rested atop her knee with his fingers interlaced with hers. Both pairs of eyes remained closed, but they already knew what was out there - a clear sky, temporarily free of any hint of sickly green light, and a half-empty moon whose presence, for once, did not weigh heavily upon them.

And the stars continued to shine down in silence, offering their comforting presence to the couple on the tower. For these few hours, little else was needed.


End file.
